Ajumama, a food truck serving Korean street food, announced on social media that it will end service on May 30 after 14 years in business. The post cited several reasons for the closure, including rising food prices, gas and other operating costs, and a yet-unnamed new opportunity for owner Laura Lee.
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“Other than earning money for my skills and knowledge, it comes with a reduction in the amount of physical work I have been doing for so long,” Lee says in the post.
“All those thousands of pounds of chicken I’ve been cleaning have finally left their mark,” she adds, noting that she recently developed tennis elbow.
While Lee said that “it’s time for this iteration of Ajumama to end,” she left the door open to potentially “return at some point as a pop-up or some other sort of collab.”
Lee was named a Tastemaker by Columbus Monthly in 2014 for being “at the front of the pack” of gourmet food trucks. She was credited for helping to expand expectations of what a food truck could offer, with dishes like bulgogi cheesesteaks and pajeon pancakes.
Ajumama will have its final days of service at Alley Islands, 162 N. 6th St., on May 23 and the Clintonville Farmers Market, 3535 N. High St., on May 30.
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This article originally appeared on Columbus Monthly: Ajumama Korean street food truck to close after 14 years
Reporting by Linda Lee Baird, Columbus Monthly / Columbus Monthly
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
